


Our Flames Extinguished

by blueshine



Series: Fantasy Sams Club's Twinweek Prompts [6]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Gen, Rated Teen for swears, the most peaceful death in the universe tbh, this isn't as sad as it looks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-04
Updated: 2018-02-04
Packaged: 2019-03-13 08:26:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13566678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueshine/pseuds/blueshine
Summary: Lup and Barry die for the last time. Taako watches.





	Our Flames Extinguished

"Does it hurt?"

"I assure you, this is the least painful death I can offer."

A humble little gazebo sat on top of a steep hill. Two iron chairs sat in the middle of the gazebo, decorated with flowers and denim ribbons. The grass waved softly in the wind, dry, yellow, and peppered with white and blue wildflowers. The sun was just about to set. The whole scene could have been ripped straight out of a rustic postcard, if not for the four people that stood on the hill. The guy in denim could have fit into that rustic aesthetic, but the two elves wearing clothes bordering on gaudy and literal, actual Death did _not_ fit the theme.

"So there's a _little_   pain?" Barry asked, more curious than concerned.

"I haven't felt it myself, but I've been told the only thing you'll feel is pressure." Kravitz leaned on the gazebo railing, eerily calm for the situation. "Compared to all of the other horrible ways you've died, this should be a cakewalk."

Lup waved her hand around in a circle, hip cocked and head tilted. "Okay, but if you kill us directly, won't we just _go ghost?"_

"I've been collecting souls for hundreds of years," Kravitz said, adjusting his posture. "I know how to sever a lich soul without it going spectral." 

A scheming grin crept along Lup's face. "Just making sure. You seem pretty bad at your job, I didn't know."

Kravitz' eye twitched. "The incident in the Miller lab was _extremely_ atypical--"

_"Sure_ it was." Lup, insistent on making this as difficult as possible, ran over to lean on the railing next to him. "If you're all the competition I've got, I'm gonna snag employee of the month by the end of the fucking _week."_

"I'm not the only--"

"You don't think I'll be employee of the month?" Barry pushed up his glasses, and the light from the setting sun washed over the lens. "I know where most of the necromancers on this plane are already. Easy access."

"Wait, really?" Lup snapped her attention over to Barry.

"Had to get my equipment from somewhere," he said, smiling sheepishly.

Kravitz pinched the bridge of his nose, knowing how bad he'd look if he blew up in front of his new coworkers. "You know we have to destroy that equipment later, right?"

"Is that our first assignment?" Barry asked.

"It's a good place as any to start," he said, and shrugged. "Speaking of starting, are the two of you ready?

"Wait, wait, run me through it again, _please--"_ Taako gripped the brim of his hat, pulling it over his ears. If he didn't have the hat, he might have ripped every hair out of his scalp. "What's the _exact_ process?"

"Maybe it's best that you don't know," Kravitz said.

The hat went over his face, muffling his words. "That's _the worst thing you could ever say to me."_

Lup forced Taako's hands off the hat and linked her arm with his. "You might as well tell him, Ghost Rider. He was all squeamish like this until we told him how the lich thing was gonna happen."

"Alright. Stop me if it gets too upsetting." Kravitz reached his hand out, pantomiming the action of reaping. "I'm going to reach my hand into their bodies--"

"M _hmm--"_

"And then, I will grab their souls in my hands--"

"Right, right, _fine,_ gotcha--"

"There's a faint clicking sound, right when the soul is severed--"

_"Hnnngh."_  Taako clutched Lup so hard her arm fell asleep.

Kravitz sighed. "Taako, you don't have to watch if you're so wigged out."

"You think I'm going to miss _my sister's death?"_ Taako saw the look of concern on everyone else's faces, and forced himself to breathe. "No, fuck, it's--fine--just. Keep going, what happens next?"

"That will be it. I will take Lup and Barry's souls over to be converted, and then they have to do some basic training--"

"Can you bring them back here for, like, two seconds?" Taako darted his eyes between Lup and Barry before settling back on Kravitz. "Just so I know it worked."

"That's--not normal protocol."

Taako fluttered his eyelashes. "You've bent the rules around me before, come _on."_

"Do _all of you_ think I'm bad at my job?" The silence and smug grins from the other three answered his question pretty damn well. "Wh--that's just rude! You know I'm doing you a _very_ big favor right now, don't you?"

"Listen, I don't need a lot of time--just a _quick hop_ from the Astral Plane to right _here._ I don't even need to talk to them." Taako held tighter to Lup, if that was even physically possible. "The second I see they're fine, you can go off on your ghost adventures, but Taako needs _confirmation."_

"I think--that would be alright."

Taako let out a long breath.

"How long'll we be in training?" Lup squeezed Taako's arm until he loosened up a bit.

"The basics take about a week without resting."

Barry gawked. _"Without--"_

"You won't _need_ to sleep or eat, and the best way to get used to that sensation is to throw you right into it." Kravitz rocked on his heels. "Otherwise your soul gets _very_ confused. I know that one from experience."

Taako whined. "I can see them again after the week's up, right?"

"Of course," Kravitz said, "I'll bring them over as soon as they're done."

Lup punched the palm of her hand. "And then we can kick some ass, right?"

"No, you will have to shadow me at work for about a year." Kravitz couldn't help but let out a bit of a snarky grin. "You're under my jurisdiction. Think of it like--parole?"

"You have to _babysit_ us?" Lup groaned and put her fists down.

Kravitz gestured between Lup and Barry. "You _are_ liches and necromancers."

" _Were,_ Ghost Rider, we got fuckin' pardoned."

"Barry _just_ grew you a new body." Kravitz put a hand on his hip. "That's necromancy."

"I disagree, that was part of the deal." Barry huffed.

"Take it up with my Lady if you have such a problem with your situation." Kravitz summoned his scythe, letting it materialize into thin air slowly. "She's not fun to bargain with. You're lucky I was the one who put in a good word for you."

"Oh, hey, when we die, we'll still look like this, right?" Lup posed and blew Barry a kiss. "I don't want to lose my bod now that I got it back, and I'd miss watching Barry walk away."

Taako stepped on Lup's foot. _"Gross!"_

Kravitz coughed, speaking a little too quickly. "On the Material Plane, your body will be a construct. You can make it look however you want."

Taako grinned. "That's how you look so handsome?"

"I didn't--no, I don't usually make changes to my construct." Kravitz flickered into his skeletal form for a few seconds.

"If I looked like that, I wouldn't want to change much either," Taako said, winking.

Lup stepped on Taako's foot. "Who's being gross now?" 

"A-and, in the Astral Plane, there are a few different forms, but you're probably the most familiar with--"

Taako and Lup's spines shot straight up, their faces lit up brighter than a Candlenights bush.

"Skele-bod?"

"The bone zone?"

"Boner mode?"

"I can't believe I have to work with you for an eternity." Kravitz gripped his scythe tight with one hand, his other hand open and pointed to Lup. "Can I go ahead and get to work?"

Lup pushed her brother off her arm. "Yeah, Taako seems well enough."

"Were you _waiting_   for me?"

"Just a little bit." She walked up towards Kravitz, but immediately spun back on her heel to face Taako. "Hey, wait, before we do anything--Taako, you know what spell to use on us, right?"

"Yeah," Taako said, thumb over one of his throwaway wands.

Barry frowned, taking a few steps toward Taako. "You're okay doing it?"

Taako tapped his foot against one of the iron chairs. "I've done it before, haven't I?"

"Last time you'll ever have to," Lup said, her forehead against Taako's, "Promise."

"Yeah." Taako pushed the wand behind his ear. "Oh, one more thing."

"Yes?" Kravitz asked, slightly annoyed at how _long_ this was taking.

Taako pushed Lup aside to walk towards Kravitz. Taako grabbed his tie and pulled him down so that their eyes were in line with each other's. If not for the deadly look on Taako's face, Kravitz may have thought it was romantic. "If you fuck up anything with my sister, we're done." Taako pulled on the tie harder, squinting. "If this is a trap, we're done. If you separate her and Barry, we're done. If any part of this doesn't go as smoothly as you promised, we're _done."_

"I--" Kravitz swallowed and tried to back away, but the grip on his tie was too strong. "It's not a trap. I wouldn't even think to--and, well, there isn't much of a chance for this to go wrong, I won't hurt her."

"I know you won't." Taako softened. He tugged on the tie again, only so he could pull Kravitz in to peck his lips. He let go after that, offering a stiff pat on the shoulder. "You're good at your job."

"Don't do that in front of me!" Lup shrieked.

"I suffered through _fifty_ years of PDA with you and Barold!" Taako walked past Lup and Barry, sitting himself on the rail of the gazebo.

Lup grabbed Barry and kissed him quickly, not breaking eye contact with Taako. She turned back to Kravitz. "Come on, let's get this show on the road."

_"Please."_  Kravitz let out an unnecessary breath. "Who wants to go first?"

Barry raised his hand.

As Kravitz approached Barry, Lup ran up to squeeze his hand and kiss him on the cheek. "Love you, Barry."

"Love you too, Lup," Barry said. He smiled. "See you on the other side."

Without much fanfare, Kravitz' hand phased through Barry's chest. He let out a murmured _whoa_ before a faint _click_ echoed under the roof of the gazebo, and his body fell limp. Lup caught it, brushed the hair out of its eyes, and sat it down on the iron chair. She took the glasses from the body's face and threw them to Taako.

"Keep those safe, 'kay?"

"I'm sure he won't need them anymore," Taako said, but held onto them as tight as he could.

"Not for him, for you." Lup closed Barry's eyes with her hand. "You'll thank me later."

"Sounds fake, but okay." Taako fought back tears.

Kravitz held a pale denim light in his hand, something that was unmistakably _Barry._ Lup approached it and waved to it. "Hey, babe."

The light flickered a few times, bouncing in Kravitz' hand.

Lup laughed. "Love you too." She turned to look up at Kravitz. "So...my turn?"

"Seems that way."

"Wait--" Taako ran up next to Lup, crushing her in a hug. "One more."

She held Taako for what seemed like years. The wind blew hair in their faces. They didn't let go. Lup took out all her earrings and shoved them in Taako's hands. "Keep these. You borrow enough of my shit anyway."

"Will do."

"I left fifteen dollars somewhere in one of these pockets," Lup said, winking, "You'll have to loot my corpse to find it."

Taako wiped a tear away. "You really know me." 

"Hey, Skeletor?" Lup swayed gently in the hug. "Just grab me here. I don't want to let go."

Without any other words, Lup went limp against Taako. Dead weight. Taako kept hold of the body for a few seconds before dropping it in the second chair. He replaced his earrings with hers, and hooked his old ones in her ears. He didn't have to close her eyes--she had closed them before being taken. Taako looked over to Kravitz, who held another light in his hands. This one looked like fire, bright, red, and crackling. The two lights orbited each other, flickering and shining bright. 

"Your family has beautiful souls, you know," Kravitz said.

"They better." Taako flipped his hair. "Gotta live up to my brand if they're with me."

"I can see yours. All the time. It's--my favorite. To look at." Kravitz smiled, and the red light spun around his arm erratically. "Hopefully I won't have to hold it for a while."

"Yeah, I'm not going anywhere."

"I should get these two to the other side." Kravitz took his scythe in one hand, balancing both lights with the other. "We'll be back soon, I suppose. But only for a second."

"Just long enough so I know it worked."

"I understand." Kravitz cut a rift with his scythe, still holding the lights. "I'll leave the bodies to you?"

"I know what I'm doing." Taako waved his hand dismissively. "See you soon."

"Bye." He disappeared through the rift. 

Taako took another look at his family. For a second, he thought to loot his sister's corpse, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He took the throwaway wand out from behind his ear and tapped it against his leg. He walked out of the gazebo. The sun was cut in half over the horizon, minutes away from turning the sky to night.An incantation danced over his lips, but he couldn't get it to come out all the way. He had done this before, but...

This was it. This was the last time. This was permanent. 

Taako lit the throwaway wand aflame and threw it into the gazebo. 

The whole thing went in flames in seconds. 

Even though the sky turned a deep blue now, the fire brightened the area around him. The grass on the hill was so dry that the fire spread outwards, so Taako kept his distance. After a half an hour, the fire was still burning--magic fire, only extinguished when Taako wanted it to. He wouldn't let it stop until the bodies were gone. Most of the gazebo was trashed at this point, the roof collapsed on top of the iron chairs. Those would be the only two things left in this pile. 

He wondered when he could see his sister again. 

A familiar tearing sound made Taako turn around.

Through the rift was Kravitz, in skeletal form. To his right was Barry, who was also a skeleton. Had a similar cloak to Kravitz', black and feathered and slightly iridescent on the inside. Looks like he was able to keep the jeans. Barry looked normal, and waved to Taako, mumbled something about how it felt to be dead  _for real,_ but Taako wasn't paying attention.

Because there was Lup.

At first, Taako was afraid. She wasn't waving to him. She wasn't acknowledging his presence. She didn't speak. She was a skeleton, fire in her eyes, dressed in a red feathered cloak. But she didn't seem to react to Taako, and that  _scared_ him, made him think something was  _wrong,_ and,  _oh fuck,_ would he have to go challenge a Goddess to get his sister back? A thousand thoughts passed through his mind, none of them good, all of them frightening. He couldn't lose her again. This wasn't okay, this  _wasn't_ Lup, how could it be Lup? She hadn't done a single thing to let him know it was her.

But then, Lup dabbed.

And Taako knew it was going to be okay.

**Author's Note:**

> thaaaaat's the end of twinsweek! I had a lot of fun doing it (but if i ever do another one of these events i gotta plan MORE in advance, i cut this one CLOSE)  
> thanks to everyone that read my short oneshots, if you wanna scream at me for making you sad remember i'm at fantasysamsclub on tumblr!  
> byeeee!


End file.
